peter king says rice should step down over this. >> the person that was out there. the person that was going to get all the glory, all the morning shows was ambassador rice. to send a clear message to the world and to american people this will not be tolerated, she should resign but also should investigate and find out how high up this went. >> gregg: welcome to a brand-new hour. i'm gregg jarrett. >> heather: i'm heather childers. a new debate rages in washington. what did white house officials know and when did they know it. demand for answers into the shifting accounts coming not just from republicans but lawmakers from both sides of the aisle. attack in benghazi that left four americans dead, including chris stevens, ambassador to libya. molly henneberg is live in washington. >> molly: the white house and state department are defending ambassador susan rice. a spokesman for barack obama

says she has done extraordinary work for the american people. also democratic senator john kerry called rice, quote a remarkable public servant and state department put out a statement defending rice's comments to those sunday shows. the statement said, quote, at every turn, ambassador rice said she was providing the best information and best assessment that the administration had at the time. based on what was provided to ambassador rice and other senator senior intelligence committee but they knew one day of the assault that it was a coordinated terror attack likely tied to al-qaeda. congressman king wants to know why ambassador rice went on tv five days after the attack and said otherwise. >> the entire administration,

miss informed the world and she was our representative to the world explaining what happened. virtually everything she said was wrong and the administration is trying to cover it by saying she was given the best information available at the time. >> molly: a spokesperson for james clapper says assessment was a spontaneous attack but at some point, that assessment changed and the intelligence community determined it was a terror attack. >> heather: thank you very much. molly henneberg live from washington. so who needs to be held accountable for the changing stories of the deadly attack on our consulate. we will speak with former ambassador to the u.n. john bolton a little bit later in the show. >> gregg: radical islamic groups leading a new wave of anti-american protests. religious students and clerics organizing a march in tehran and

chanting death to america. in pakistan police say at least 15,000 people plugging the streets of karachi demanding the expulsion of america's ambassador. >> heather: back here at home we are learning more about a horrific workplace shooting that happened in minneapolis. five people were killed on thursday. latest victim died yesterday at the hospital. now, the gunman, 36-year-old opened fire at a small sign making company after he was let go. police say that she shot and killed himself at the scene. one of the victims is identified as a driver for ups as driver for 29 years. the sign company was on his route and he was loading his truck when he was shot. another victim was the owner of business.

he came to the u.s. from israel and started the company more than 30 years ago. >> his kids and wife, that was the center of his world. >> it's truely shocking. we're in a deep state of numbness and mourning. three our hugs and prayers and turning to god. >> heather: the shooter's family say he struggled for years with mental illness. >> gregg: crucial moment coming up in the race for the white house. this coming wednesday, mitt romney and president obama will be squaring off in their very first debate. no political handlers on the stage and no advisors, no 30 seconds commercials. two men going on one on one with the debate posing a crucial test for both candidates. how big are the stakes?

joining us is erin mcpike national reporter. good to see you. as the challenger who is admittedly behind in the polls, governor romney is an underdog, does that give him an advantage and if he does well with let's say 50 million people watching, could it reversed direction of his campaign? >> it's very possible. romney campaign has said all along that the debates are going to be very important because it's a chance to see mitt romney square off with president obama and visions for the country. we are starting to see both campaigns to lower expectations for both candidates but this is last chance that romney have to voters take him seriously. >> gregg: i think the trick is for romney at least to come across as krebld and trust

worthy and to have the better plan for the economy, that seems to be pretty clear. i wanted to point your attention to a recent bloomberg poll. one in five voters are persuadable and more of them actually tilt republican and lean in romney's direction. 41% says he has laid out a better economic vision compared to 25% saying the president has. are those folks, erin, really what both of candidates are aiming for here. they got to get some of that 20%? >> there is no question about that. how we know that is the other day president obama was campaigning down in virginia. he made that very remark. he was saying i know i have supporters out there in the audience but i wanted to talk to some of the folks who are watching on tv who may not be my supporters. mitt romney in some of his campaign remarks have said the same thing. so the mention are sounding a

little more independent or centrist than they did in the past. >> gregg: what is curious and this is borne out by some of the polls, roughly 60% of the likely voters think the president's economic policies -- there it is -- have hurt the economy or made no difference at all. in other words, you have to add the bottom 38 plus 21. take a look at the other numbers. when asked if policies need changing, a stunning 73% said yes. how is it that an incumbent leads when voters are demanding change? >> that is the very big question of this election. mitt romney has tried to run as a change agent, but what the obama campaign has done very well is attack him in critical swing states that both

candidates wanted to win. he has done a good job of disqualifying mitt romney and he is working against that and romney needs to get back to all the voters who might think he is not as qualified to be president and prove to that he is. >> gregg: i'm struck by the number of pundits and journalists that sort of pro nourng nounsing this race as over -- pronouncing this race as over. they said undecided voters historically choose the challenger. you would expect the remaining undecided voters to break not exclusively but disproportionately for mitt romney rather than president obama. does that make the debates all the more relevant and vital? >> no question about it. i would pointed out to you in a lot of these swing states, president obama is getting up to about 50% getting close and in

some states he is just about over. it doesn't matter necessarily if there is a 4-point difference if he is reaching the 50% mark he is good shape. a lot of these voters are still waiting to see what mitt romney will bring. i talked to undecided voter in ohio the other day and he said he has taken his kids to president obama's rallies and romney's rallies, he likes the president but he wants to see if mitt romney can turn his campaign around. >> gregg: four or five points isn't that much in the grand scheme of things. final question. what hasn't been measured as yet is the continuing fallout over the tragic murder of christopher stevens. if evidence is uncovered that this president and his administration deliberately

misled congress and tried to cover up this 9/11 terror attack what does it portend in the polls? >> that could be the october surprise if we are to see something like that. a couple of polls have shown they've been a little bit of a slip between mitt romney on terrorism. romney is seen stronger on terror because of this policy. so the very last debate in the last week of october is going to be focused on foreign policy. we may see it at the end of the election. >> gregg: great to see you. thanks very much. >> heather: with the clock ticking down most polls show president obama with a slight lead over governor mitt romney. as history shows the late september leads doesn't mean a win in november. mike emanuel explains. >> polls go up and down. >> history shows that late

september leads can evaporate by election day. in 1968 hubert humphrey was down 15 points. nixon won it was less than 1 percent. in 1976, jimmy carter had a 33-point lead over gerald ford. three debates, ford had cut the lead to 5 points and led in the final polls and narrowly lost. jamie carter had a consistent advantage over ronald reagan but the final presidential debate changed everything leading to a reagan landslide. now he is building a lead in key battleground states, a consultant who worked for jimmy carter, finding the right sample to survey can be tricky. >> we know from exit polls that republicans tend to respond to these polls less than oftentimes particularly to news organizations less than do democrats. >> reporter: in.

>> julie: 8 there was a huge swing. dukakis lost to bush. in 1992 incumbent president was down nine points in mid-september and was tied with bill clinton by the end of october. the clinton eventually won. former clinton pollster is questioning the assumptions being made in today's polls. >> these polls are assuming that you have the same high level of african-american, latino and young people vote in 2012 that you had in 2008. >> obama campaign senior advisor david axelrod said they widely vary so when they all pointed in one direction, they are all wrong. but we are planning for a close race as we always have. another democratic strategist offered this assessment. >> the race isn't over. this can move back three or four times between now and november 6th. >> romney you try to create that

momentum. >> of the eight presidential races where the leads were cut or flipped by the opponent, average of comebacks was roughly 35% and in some cases it was the debate that moved the needle. >> gregg: as a reminder we are daig days away from that first presidential debate. we'll have live coverage of the event hosted by megyn kelly and bret baier. that is coming up right here on the fox news channel. >> heather: coming up a shocking story out of massachusetts where a chemist is accused of doing something that could affect thousands of criminal cases. >> gregg: one of the most legendary u.s. miss industries is back in the spotlight. why michigan police once again searching for union boss jimmy hoffa nearly 40 years after he vanished. >> we had credible information and we had to follow through with that. when the remains come back,

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due back on the field. both sides reaching an agreement after complaints on calls. butlir trial accused of leaking hundreds of personal papers he allegedly stole from the pope but he could get a papal pardon. >> no sign of jesse jackson just weeks before the election. illinois congressman has not been seen for months and said to be battling depression. >> heather: no holds bar congressional race becoming more cutthroat. in a bid to keep it alan west, a mugshot of his opponent patrick murphy that was taken nearly a decade ago. peter doocy has more from washington. >> incumbent in the race for the seat in florida's 18th congressional district alan west

a republican who is trying to get voters a clear choice 38 days from today is what larry sabado calms one of the most devastating ads he has ever seen. >> february 16th, 2003, fort hood texas, alan west had just received deployment orders and prepares his men to go to war. that night sooth south beach miami, patrick murphy is thrown out of a club covered in alcohol. >> but they are defending their candidate a former cpa now working at where west shot a gun near a iraqi he was interrogating. he was fined $5,000. murphy camp says, alan west is attacking patrick murphy for a mistake he has made as a teenager as a mistake he learned from.

west goes on to discuss his tenure in the military in 2003 while failing to acknowledge that he was criminally charged that year for assault. a poll puts the congressman west ahead by 11 points, but just last month the poll released by the democratic congressional campaign committee had to had the two tied. it is close. >> heather: pirate doocy reporting from washington, thank you. >> gregg: a chemist is now waiting to learn if more charges will be brought against her in a massachusetts crime lab investigation. prosecutors say she falsified evidence that is at facility putting thousands of cases in jeopardy. this investigation sending shock waves throughout the massachusetts justice system. molly is following it live. >> this is a scandle that could

affect more than 1,000 inmates currently serving time in massachusetts for drug related crimes and far more people convicted in the past. he is accused of not just faulty work but mixing samples and forging paperwork. they say the deception has gone on for years. 34-year-old chemist was charged with obstruction of justice. more than a dozens of people have been released from jail as attorneys assess the damage. in the wake of the investigation lab in boston was shut down and state's public health commissioner resigned. investigators say that they lied about drug samples and testified under oath in summer of 2010 that she had advance degree from the university of massachusetts. school has no record of her. co-workers started expressing concerns about her work years ago. one red flag, she was most

productive chemist on staff while her fellow technicians test 50 to hundred samples. she routinely did more than 500. she tested 60,000 drug samples during her nine years at the lab. >> her alleged actions why corrupted the entire criminal justice system. there are many victims as a result of this. first, of course, are the defendants who when charged in a criminal justice system have the right to expect that they will be given due process. >> reporter: if convict of the current charges, he faces up to 20 years in prison and attorney general has not ruled out the possibility of more charges to come. at for motive, she wanted to be seen as an efficient worker. >> gregg: she just allegedly made it all up. molly, thanks very much.

>> heather: potential voter fraud in the battleground state of florida, why election fixing are concerned, that is next. >> gregg: shifting stories on the killings of our diplomats in libya going from spontaneous outburst of violence to a preplanned terrorist attack. should somebody held accountable and if so, who? we'll be talking to a former u.s. ambassador john bolton coming up. does your phone give you all day battery life ? droid does. and does it launch apps by voice while learning your voice ? launch cab4me. droid does. keep left at the fork. does it do turn-by-turn navigation ? droid does. with verizon, america's largest 4g lte network, and motorola, droid does. get $100 off select motorola 4g lte smartphones

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>>. >> heather: time for the top of the news, the last western detainee held at guantanamo bay has returned home to canada. he arrived at a military base on a u.s. government plane earlier today and will finish out his eight year sentence at a maximum

security prison in ontario. >> gregg: peter king calling for the resignation of u.s. ambassador to the united nations. saying that susan rice should, quote, pay the price for failing to initially describe the attack on our consulate in libya as terrorism. >> heather: and japan's industry minister is urging the government energy program. they experienced a massive nuclear meltdown after the tsunami. >> gregg: new concerns in the battleground state of florida where election officials say they have received some rather questionable registration forms submitted on behalf of the state's republican party. senior correspondent eric shawn is live with the latest? >> you know voter registration fraud was a huge scandal in the

2008 presidential race that helped lead to the demise of acorn. now it's expected from forms from a consulting firm working or for the republican party. that company allied consulting had been fired by the national republican committee after hundred signatures showed up in palm beach county florida that are allegedly fraudulent. they blame one employee for listing a statement that said, we were able to identify that the cause in question were the work of one individual. we are very proud of our work product. when someone commits voter fraud it's an affront to everyone living in this country. election supervisor who runs elections in the orlando area, voter registration fraud. >> any time that is not in the

elections business that does things to cause voters to daurt doubted whether their vote is going to count it causes people think it's a negative system. >> it's happened before. names on countless forms from acorn, dozens of convictions of acorn workers. there are suspected fake signatures that put president obama and hillary clinton on the primary ballot in indiana. that is where voters said they never signed the petitions. four officials have been indicted and face a trial in january. as for the north dakota forms, man who allegedly turned them in told a newspaper he did nothing wrong. they had been people playing a joke. he says even registered drunk people in bars.

if you suspect voter fraud we want to know about it. voter fraud at fox news.com. >> gregg: when they sober up they are allowed to vote. [ laughter ] thanks very much. >> heather: for nearly four decades he had been the subject of one of the biggest mysteries in u.s. history. now michigan police say they may know where jimmy hoffa is buried. a tipster came forward saying that she buried under a woodshed outside of detroit. so far no visible sign of his remains but police say they are having soil samples analyzed. >> it be locked down until we get results back but until then we will be considered a crime scene. >> a former detective with the

major case squad and president of alba investigations and joins us now. thank you for joining us. so, what happened to jimmy hoffa. one of the persistent questions. why is this shed and driveway? >> the f.b.i. has this case. of course, they have been searching for years for jimmy hoffa's body. it came up where somebody complained they saw or know of a body that was buried at that location. he gave a couple of names that were tied in with jimmy hoffa at the time when he disappeared. that was the reason for the search. either they had to search for a body or jimmy hoffa's body. that is the reason for this. >> heather: this location it's about 30 miles west of where he was last seen. you mentioned those names. they are associated with the house itself? >> i think they are. one of them -- i'm not sure if they are relatives or not. the person who made that

allegation the f.b.i., i think those names were connected in some way. one of those names are probably the prime suspect of disappearance of jimmy hoffa. >> heather: what are investigators looking for in these soil samples. what do they hope to find? >> anything they can find. any kind of bone, body, dna anything to prove there is a body there. does the f.b.i. think that is jimmy hoffa? i doubt it. they know what happened with this situation. they have been investigating it for years. i'm sure they know who did it and i'm sure they don't know where his body is. >> heather: in the absence of evidence. rumors have abounded that hoffa's remain were tossed into a florida swamp. in two beneath the old giant stadium in new jersey. others said he had been buried renaissance center. it's been almost four decades.

what visible evidence is left to find? >> you know, if you find maybe the body, maybe there is something there besides any dna evidence with all the sophisticated equipment we have. maybe they could find something. whoever may have killed him on or set the killing up possibly is dead by now. maybe they have taken it to their grave about where he is at this point. >> heather: if they aren't dead and if they are still alive the statute of limitations doesn't run out on murder cases. always the prospect of finding evidence that could lead to a new trial. evidence would be needed for that and how realistic would a new rule be? >> the f.b.i. knows, they have prime suspects that directly ties with those suspects is enough for a case a of probable cause to have a case. it's not only the case of the

family but family themselves have no closure. they want to find out what happened to their husband's family, father, anything like that. that is another reason for why they continue to search. once a missing person, really he was a high profile person. it's still a mystery. i think it captivates everybody in the united states. >> heather: final question for you. why do you think the public is so fascinated by this case? >> it's not that he was in the mafia but he had mafia connections and federally he fought to system. he went to jail. he was the president of a large, one of the biggest unions. his negotiations and he was bigger than life. here he is and we are watching all these shows about law and order or finding evidence. that keeps us captivated with

this particular case. >> heather: do you think she under the driveway? >> no, i don't think so. >> heather: hopefully the family can get answers to this. >> gregg: no on time delivery for the postal service as it is set to defaulted on another multimillion dollar payment. what can be done to keep the failing agency afloat when maybe it should not. [ owner ] i need to expand to meet the needs of my growing business. but how am i going to fund it? and i have to find a way to manage my cash flow better. [ female announcer ] our wells fargo bankers are here to listen, offer guidance and provide you with options tailored to your business. we've loaned more money to small businesses than any other bank for ten years running. so come talk to us to see how we can help. wells fargo. together we'll go far.

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>>. >> gregg: big fight over an american flag causing outrage in one indiana town. coastguard veteran that served after 9/11 says he wants to fly an american flag to show his pride. but the new owners of his apartment complex says she violating their rules. smith says she doesn't see what the big deal is.

>> i was in four years. it represents freedom. it represents the blood that has been shed so we can live free. to tell me i can't fly a flag shall i just don't understand. i can't stand for it. it goes against everything i believe in. i just wanted to -- i don't understand what the big deal is. >> gregg: on site staff he can still fly a flag but it has to be in specified area. >> heather: u.s. postal service hours from defaulting on the second five billion dollar payment. tomorrow is the deadline to set those funds aside for future retiree benefits. postmaster general says the state of the mailing agency lies mostly with congress. what can be done to save it.

thank you for joining us. we heard this before and neither sun nor rain can stop the postman but congress might. can congress save the post office or is it too late? >> you know i think it's not too late. by a quirk of government back in 2006 we gave the u.s. postal thofs rule it needs to free fund retiree health care benefits. it is the only federal agency that is required to do so. this is creating all kinds of financial turmoil because the post office can't afford to do this. that is very heart of sunday's $5.6 billion shortfall. >> heather: so more details for our viewers at home. that law passed in 2006, for the postal service to make an annual payment for ten years that would

cover the retiree benefits for postal workers for 75 years. they want to restructure the fund. is that realistic long term solution and will that alone provide the relief that the postal service needs? >> you know, i think it is -- it very much the crux of this entire thing. that is huge lag on the postal service. what was responsible for last month's shortfall and what is responsible for tomorrow's short fall. we'll see one huge step in the right direction. but we have to keep in mind, here we have the post office which was established in our constitution. 225 years ago we didn't have private sector competitors. we didn't have fed ex and instant messaging and e-mail all of which making it a lot harder for the u.s. postal office to be

competitive. >> heather: and they are expected to reach a record $15 billion this year and whether congressional delays are to blame for those losses. the postmaster general said absolutely. why has congress failed to act? >> we are facing a lot of gridlock on both sides of the aisle. it's just irresponsible. congress has failed to act. this is something that really needs to be moved on. it's a u.s. postal service. it's mandated in section 8 and article one of the u.s. constitution. >> heather: first class mail volume has fallen 25% since 2006. it's projected to drop another 30% by 2016. so what else could they do to cut costs if this option isn't on the table in terms of what congress can do? >> another thing that can be done is to look at the efficiency of each post office and its hours.

it's hard to make sweeping legislation like let's close the post office on saturdays and say it's efficient. we need to look at the numbers. where is the post office profitable and where it isn't and make rules in accordance with that. so there is a lot that can be done here, but we need to begin to act. >> heather: in the meantime, they are gearing up for another sticky situation in october. the agency must meet payroll only giagz of $1.4 billion to the labor department for workers' compensation. we'll see what happens then. thank you very much? >> thank you. >> gregg: contradictory accounts over a tragedy, obama administration officials not all on the same page when it comes to explaining the deadly attack on our consulate in benghazi libya. does somebody need to be held accountable? we'll ask john bolton. she deck next.

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>>. >> gregg: obama administration under fire for what they knew and when they knew it in the deadly attack on the consulate in libya. at first, white house officials said the assault was just a spur of the moment by an angry mob. now the nation's intel agency is giving a different version, indeed, it was a premeditated terrorist attack. assault on the diplomatic compound killing four americans including christopher stevens. what is going on here? john bolton, former ambassador to the united nations and fox news contributor. appreciate you dressing up just for me. thank you, ambassador. >> any time. >> gregg: on a serious note, sources have confirmed to fox news that inintel officials knew within 24 hours this was a planned terrorist attack. that they knew bie a specific group. yet, the president and his administration spent a week

denying it. incompetence, confusion or a deliberate deception to cover up the truth? >> i think there really are only two explanations, one it's a cover-up and intended to follow the political narrative that benefits the president. war on terror is over and al-qaeda has been defeated and libya was a great success. that doesn't happen to comport with reality. leads to the second explanation that the president's ideology and that of his administration is so radical and so divorced from reality that they can't process facts that are inconsistent with their world views. so when you see an american ambassador and three colleagues being assassinated. they can't think that al-qaeda is not defeated and war on terror is not over. >> gregg: i wonder if people were being used or reputations and careers ruined and five days after the attack, as you know, white house offered up u.n. ambassador susan rice to get out there on talk showing.

to insist this was not a terror attack. take a listen. >> what happened initially it was a spontaneous reaction to what had just happened in cairo as a consequence of the video. people gathered outside the embassy and then it grew very violent. >> gregg: she was misled or used by folks at the white house to disseminate false information? >> i think that is entirely possible. being a u.n. ambassador a great job but responsibilities do not cover security for embassies in libya and elsewhere in the middle east. my first reaction was to ask, where was secretary of state clinton? why wasn't she explaining what had happened? whatever the initial assessment was, it was obvious wrong. so the question is why wouldy gs were less than fully known and try to spin something like that. >> gregg: it seemed preposterous

when the evidence was abundantly clear. now, we get director of national intelligence, james clapper. this is his spokesman. quote. in the aftermath of assault there was information that led us to assess that the attack begin spontaneously following protests earlier that day at our embassy in cairo. do you buy that? or is he being used or manipulated maybe taking the fall? >> general clapper some months back testified to congress that the muslim brotherhood in egypt was basically a secular organization. his office had to retract that and some embarrassment. i'm not sure what the level of his credibility is at this point. even if that was their initial assessment they were flat wrong on it. that seems to raise the question of a accountability very

specifically. you cannot underestimate how serious it is on the 11th anniversary of se79d 11th to lose four americans. the responsibility i think goes right to the top, as they say. >> gregg: i'm wondering about whether the ambassador chris stevens should have been there in the first place. there had been a rash of attacks in benghazi in the six months before this 9/11 terrorist attack. there were a rash of attacks by islamist jihadists, as well. now his diary has been discovered. in it he expressed concern for his safety. in your judgment, would that have to have been passed along to officials here in the united states? are they therefore, in some ways complicity or responsible for what happened to him? >> when you have four murders like that, there is obvious a

breakdown in security. forget the post event scenario. just concentrating on the fact that they were exposed the way they were indicates systemic failures among other things. i said before when i was in new york at any given time outside the mission or outside my residence, i had a package of three diplomatic security personnel with me. he had one in benghazi. there is something badly wrong with that scenario. >> gregg: all right. that is a tragic story all the way around. there may be a whole lot more evidence that emerges in the days and months ahead. have a great evening. thank you for dropping by. >> thank you. >> heather: coming up, final sprinted to the white house underway, polls show president obama is having trouble getting one key voting bloc, military vets and we'll talk about it next. [ male announcer ] with a driving range

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>> heather: hello, i'm heather childers. >> and i'm gregg jarrett. the vice presidential candidate out in force today in key swing states. congressman ryan in new hampshire and ohio. vice president biden in florida. we get the latest from the campaign trail. >> heather: plus, president obama in trouble with the veteran vote in key

swing states. our political panel weighs in on why. >> gregg: the search for two y children first thought to have died in a home fire. judge jeanine is on the case. >> heather: first, pressure mounting on america's ambassador to the united nations to resign. committee chairman calling for ambassador susan rice to step down over comments she made following the deadly attack on america's consulate in benghazi, libya. that attack killed ambassador stevens and three other americans. molly henneberg is live in washington. what did ambassador rice say and why does congressman king believe she should step down? >> reporter: ambassador rice went on sunday talk show two weeks ago and called the attack in libya a spontaneous reaction to an anti-muslim video. congressman king said by that time there was circumstantial evidence showing this was a

terrorist attack. >> either ambassador rice was deliberately misleading the american people or showed and demonstrated such a lack of knowledge and sophistication that she shouldn't hold that position. >> reporter: sources tell fox news intelligence officials knew within one day of the assault that killed ambassador stevens and three others that it was a coordinated terror attack, likely tied to al-qaeda. >> heather: molly, ambassador rice does have her defenders, what are they saying? >> reporter: the state department for one contends when she spoke she made her remarks based on best information that the obama administration had at the time. the president's national security council defending rice. a spokesperson saying she has done extraordinary work at the united nations. the democratic chairman of the senate foreign relations committee senator kerry put out a statement saying i'm troubled by calls:

>> reporter: congressman king charges rice made her comments because the obama administration "wanted to rule out terrorism from the start." >> heather: molly henneberg, thank you. >> gregg: governor romney criticizing obama administration for evolving explanations for the attacks in libya. >> syria, dictator has slaughtered tens of thousands of innocent people. our embassies across the islamic world were violently stormed. in libya, terrorist attacked the u.s. consulate, killing our ambassador and three other americans. in iran the ayatollah's race

to develop nuclear weapons. through it all president obama continues to show he does not grasp the dimensions of what is occurring and has no extra did to protect or advance our interests. we've seen confused, slow and inconsistent response to the terrorist tack in laboria. refusal to be frank with the american people about what happened. complete failure to explain the growing terrorist threat we face. >> gregg: governor romney went on to criticize the president for turning down a face-to-face meeting with netanyahu while netanyahu visited the u.s. at the u.n. general assembly. radical islamic groups, more than 15,000 flooding the streets in karachi, pakistan, demanded expulsion of the u.s. ambassador because of the film insuiting prophet mohammed. despite no protesters having

seen the movie only those with access to youtube could see the trailer to the film. religious students and clerics protesting in tehran. they held up copies of the qur'an and chanted "death to america." the iranian government blocked all access to youtube after the trailer hit the internet. >> gregg: u.s. embassy in egypt reporting new security threat, message on is website says, the embassy has credible information suggesting terrorist' interests in targeting u.s. female missionaries in egypt, accordingly u.s. citizens should exercise vigilant taking precautions to maintain personal security. >> heather: vice president biden and vice presidential nominee ryan are campaigning

in key battleground states this weekend. congressman ryan arriving in ohio this afternoon. earlier he held a rally in new hampshire where he told the crowd that a romney administration would allow people to prosper. as posed to the economic stagnation that has taken place over the past four years. be sure to catch chris wallace's interview with congressman ryan tomorrow, right here on fox news sunday on the fox news channel. vice president biden meantime, speaking to seniors in florida yesterday about social security and medicare. it was the vice president's second day of a two-day campaign swing that began in retirement communities along florida's east coast >> gregg: new questions raised about possible voter fraud in key battleground state of florida what appeared to be an isolated problem in one county now apparently spreading statewide suspicion over voter registration forms filed on

behalf of the republican party and officials in florida are taking all of this seriously, as you can imagine. eric is live in new york city. >> reporter: he says he did nothing wrong and may have been hoodwinked by people giving wrong information. claims the worker sent out to register republican voters in florida. he spoke to the newspaper, now finds himself at the center of a growing investigation that touches on the race for the white house. the company strategic allied consultant was hired to register voters in five states, now fired by the republican national committee and several state parties after over 100 suspect signatures showed up in palm beach county, florida. the company blames one employee saying in part, we were able to identify the cards in question were all the work of one individual. we are very proud of our work product, unfortunately, not everyone takes the issue of fraud seriously. when someone commits voter

fraud it is an affront to everyone living in this country. supervisor of elections told us, voter fraud hurts our democracy. >> i think the key is every time something like this happens, it affects voters' confidence in the entire system. it happened four years ago with one group. it is happening this year with another. the big key is go directly to your local elections office, register to vote. >> reporter: dozens of acorn workers have been prosecuted for fraud and acorn pled guilty in a related case in any have . right now suspected fake silts in indiana on petitions that put president obama and hillary clinton on the 2008 primary voters say they never signed the petitions four democratic and election officials have been indicted and they face trail in january. the man in florida who allegedly registered the names in question reported saying he even registered drunk people

in bars. if you suspect voter fraud where you live, sober or not, foughterfraud@foxnews.com polls showing president obama and mitt romney running neck-and-neck in some key battleground states. new numbers show major shift in eight key states where the number of registered department extras -- democrats dropping fast. >> the president: don't boo, vote. don't boo, vote. >> reporter: that often repeated call to get out the vote comes amidst precipitous decline in democratic voter registration in some swing state none more apparent than in ohio registration down by 490,000 people from four years ago. 44% in cleveland. democrats outnumber republicans more than 2-1. >> i think what we are seeing

is a lot of spin and hype on the part of the obama campaign to troy -- to try to make it appear they are going to cruise to victory in ohio. 50,000 are decrease in rolls in the three largest counties. >> reporter: august study shows the democratic voter registration decline in eight key swing states outnumbers republican decline by 10-1. in florida democratic registration down 4.9%. iowa down 9.5%. new hampshire 19.7%. >> it is understand that enthusiasm is going to wane a bit. you can only elect the first african-american president of this country once. >> reporter: the dip has been framed by some as result of republican efforts to suppress the vote. accusation which ohio's republican secretary of state rejects. >> it has to do with voter integrity. they can't point to one

legally registered voter that has been removed from the rolls. >> reporter: study shows democrats' also is offset by gain in independent voters. >> there are half a million more inches, now than four years ago. -- more independents, now than four years ago. >> reporter: it is difficult to draw conclusions in how independents lean, they are not a stable voting bloc, which makes pollsters' tempts to pre their thinking, very difficult. hard fought congressional race unfolding in florida. congressmanf8wedvm alan west mag waves with his new attack ad using his opponent's bleary-eyed mugshot. >> reporter: incumbent in the race for the seat in florida's 18th district lt. colonel allen west, a republican is trying to give voters a clear choice,.

>> february 16th, 2003 food, tet prepares his men to go to war. that night south beach maim, patrick murphy thrown out of a club for fighting covered in alcohol, unable to stand. >> reporter: the murphy campaign is defending their candidate the democratic challenger, now working as vice president of an environmental services company by shining a light on an incident where west shot a gun near the head of an iraqi he was interrogating. an incident he was fined $5,000 for, before being allowed to retire with full benefits. the murphy camp's take is west is shaming murphy for a mistake he made as a teenager which he discussed at length. >> reporter: internal poll

taken this week reportedly puts west ahead lie 11 points. last month the poll released by democratic campaign committee have the two tied. it is close. american politics not all that gentile nowadays. >> that would not be a word to describe it, for sure. >> pretty rough. >> heather: mission accomplished at the international space station. what the european space agency managed to do after a big delay earlier this week. >> gregg: plus, president obama and governor romney trying to capture military vote in a key state of virginia. lots of military folks reside there. we'll show you why that could be an uphill battle for one of the candidates, a fair and balanced debate. does your phone give you all day battery life ?

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>> gregg: time for a check of headlines. european cargo ship successfully undocking from the international space station. gm recalling 41,000 cars because of potential fuel leak. recall covering chevy cobalt

and pontiac sedans from 2007 through 2009. chevy equinox, pontiac, suv's and ion sedans from 2007. vehicles have plastic parts in the fuel pump that could crack and start a fire. president obama reflectinging on the passing of former "new york times" publisher arthur sulzberger, he died today after a long illness. the president says his legacy will live on in the newspaper he loved so so much. he was 86-years-old. >> heather: courting the military vote, president obama and governor romney campaigning in the critical battleground state of virginia this week capturing support of service members is key to winning that state. has that support slipped for

president obama? take a look at this, a poll in four important battleground states, specifically colorado, florida, ohio and virginia, among veterans, president obama is trailing governor romney by double digits by as much as 20%, party points in colorado and florida. how will this play out on election day? president of new heights communications and the former spokesperson to vermont governor dean and the senior vice president of box global, thank you for joining us. >> thanks for having me >> heather: this is the first time in 80 years, that neither ticket had a veteran in the running. traditionally republicans had the upper hand when it comes to the military vote. will that be the case this year too or can president obama turn these polls around?

trey i'll start with you. >> you don't have to have military service to run for president. i've done a lot of political work in virginia it is a preference among veterans. neither of these candidates have it, no one started off with an advantage. for this voting demographic it comes down to trust in leadership. measuring stick, with mitt romney they don't have a lot to go on, other than his words and the fact that he's a leader of a party that has owned the military vote. for barack obama, there are clear examples of his ineptitude as commander in chief and certainly from recent events in the mideast. >> heather: kristi, your response? >> it is important to remember as we said that the veterans' vote typically skews republicans, because veterans are typically white male, often in southern or rural areas. the real question is why

mitt romney is not doing better? yes he has significant margins. if you looked at in 2004, george bush running against a decorated war hero in john kerry and had a similar margin. it seems romney has been doing everything in his power to cut the margin whether insulting veterans by his 47% remark or for getting the troops in his mention speech. >> heather: you say like it is a given veterans in the military vote would go to republicans and we shouldn't be surprised by this. yet, in 2008 president obama won virginia specifically the first time a democrat had won that state in 44 years. he also won all of the other states we mentioned in our introduction, colorado, florida, ohio and virginia what is president obama doing wrong in time around? >> he's not doing anything wrong. you are right, win virginia last time. i believe he will win it again this time. he does have a lead in that

state in most polls. the one area where he's behind is the veteran vote. he's running even with white males against romney, if you take out the veterans vote. >> heather: that veteran vote is significant. trey, veterans are a high turn-out demographic concentrated in battleground states nearly one million each in north carolina, ohio and virginia, 1.6 million in florida. it is a significant demographic. how will events in the mideast, including that deadly attack at the consulate in libya and the administration's reaction following attacks, how will that affect the veteran vote? >> that is the issue. it absolutely will. you didn't have to be in charlotte to see the democrat party is being run by the extreme left, more than it ever has been. the extreme left believes, proudly, think. that extending an olive branch to our enemies and engaging in a conversation is the way to go. it is just not in touch with

reality. there are millions of people around this world, particularly in the mideast, that are fighting a 100 year never ending holy war against christians and screw jews a lot following -- and jew to sit back and not accept that fact and blame these deaths on a movie theory or something else, i think it is reckless for this president to do. >> heather: let's talk about the economy with you kristi moving beyond foreign policy in august there were 20,000 unemployed veterans. president obama's latest budget proposed half a trillion in defense cuts over the next 10 years. the department of defense estimated that president obama's defense cuts could result in as many as 1.5 million jobs lost. what can president obama to win the veteran vote? when you are talking about numbers like that in this

economy. >> it is important to point out ryan budget cuts veterans benefits by 13%. it is important for the president to emphasize what he has done for the military and veterans, whether it is aid for military families or whether it is increasing benefits for veterans or his post 9/11 g.i. bill there's a strong record he has to try on and he should tuck about that. >> heather: trey what about those numbers? >> you will not be able to convince veteran vote there's republicans are not going to stand up for them. they will be there for him, they know regardless of the budget cutting republicans are proposing which is much needed in this town in terms of the waste, fraud, abuse or unnecessary spending that they are going to be there for our military that has never been a question. >> heather: defense secretary panetta says the cuts will result in the smallest ground force since 1940, the smallest

number of ships since 1915 and the smallest airports in its history. >> president obama is the one that basically in the stand down with the republican congress proposed this defense sequestration that could happen if we do not have a debt deal before december 31st. the burden is on him on these defense cuts. >> house republicans proposed cutting embassy security, which may have hurt things in benghazi. we can play this game. but i believe republicans are the ones who have been cutting security and making painful cuts that -- >> i love it when democrats try defend what happened in benghazi. for people like us it is nothing but scoring points on tv when we are going against them. it is an absurd defense, you can't defend it what happened there and more importantly the mixed signals from different types of leaders from the white house that have come out of that, since the tax, is

disrespectful to the four americans who were killed and their families that there has not been more mixed signals with -- >> mitt romney was putting out a statement criticizing the president and trying to score political points instead of -- [ talking over each other ] >> what do you think of the president saying it was a bump in the road? what do you that i says to those families? >> heather: answer that question. >> i think everyone should show a lot of respect for the work we are doing abroad. i don't think it was appropriate to have cut embassy security. >> heather: we have the u.s. bam door dead and two navy seals still a lot of -- questions remain to be answered. thank you both. >> thanks. >> you bet, thank you >> gregg: dangerous weather lashing parts of one state, flash flooding destroying homes and businesses. coming up, a closer look at the destruction. >> heather: one man raising

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>> heather: bottom of the hour time for top of the news: vice president biden campaigning in florida blaming the country's economic woes on the bush administration. in new hampshire ryan told a rally that economic stagnation will continue if president obama is reelected. >> gregg: heavy rain triggering flash flooding in parts of connecticut yesterday. water levels rose at homes in businesses and driving was treacherous. >> heather: in los angeles, transportation project so big

it is dubbed carmageddon two, 10 mile stretch of 405 shutdown today will remain closed for 53 hours for a project to widen the freeway. >> gregg: scandal rocking the state police crime lab in massachusetts. take a look at this former lab chemist now charged with faking drug tests and falsifying evidence for years. now tens of thousands of drug-related convictions could be tossed out. molly line with more. >> reporter: investigators believe a state lab tech tampered with evidence in a of cases for years, mixing samples, not testing others and altering results. she was realized friday charged with obstruction of justice, and friending to hold a university agree. the attorney general of massachusetts said she turned the system on its head. more than a dozen relasted from jail, many are expected

to get out, including those convicted of violent crimes and dealing drugs as prosecutors and defense attorneys struggle to cleanup the mess. the lab in boston was closed and state's public health commissioner resigned. investigators say she lied about drug samples from a case last year and testified under oath she had an advanced degree from the of massachusetts the school has no record of her. co-workers raised suspicions about her years ago one red flag her extreme productivity will her fellow techs tested 50 to 150 samples a month she testified over500. police say she tested more than 60,000 drug samples, involving 30,000 defendants over nine years. defense attorneys demanding accountability. veronica white represents several clients. >> she had unsupervisedded access to the evidence lock are -- locker. the ability to go in and tamper with this evidence.

what kind of system did they have in place to allow all of this to happen for so long? >> reporter: she is out on $10,000 bail and must where a gps monitor if convicted she faces up to 20 years and the attorney general has not ruled out the possibility of more charges to come. >> heather: disturbing new information about the terror suspects held at guantanamo bay. the obama administration releasing a report saying that some former gitmo detainees are turning into high ranking members of al-qaeda, upon their release. chief intelligence correspondent catherine herridge reports from washington. >> reporter: libyan identified in his files by number 557 is a leading suspect in the attack on the benghazi counts lit. terrorism officials say time at -- gitmo can be like a badge of honor giving street cred, rock star status.

he spent nearly six years at guantanamo released by the saudis he's the deputy leader of al-qaeda in yemen. the defense department downplays the guantanamo-effect. >> some may be are given higher status in some terrorist groups i'm not in the best position to characterize that safe to say that some of them probably do acquire some degree of status i'm not sure widespread. >> reporter: evidence points to a joint operation. identified in his gitmo file as 372, remains top target for the cia in yemen because it is alleged involvement in the underwear bomber plot on christmas day 2009? a. one in three detainees is now suspected or confirmed of returning to the battlefield. >> these are the individuals

that we've seen that will go back into the field and will return to a life of terrorism. >> reporter: the leader of the taliban is also a former guantanamo detainee released in 2007. source tells there is concern that some recommit to their cause while at guantanamo and bring a new understanding of the way the american military works. katherine herridge, fox news >> gregg: hot-air balloon pilot flying high this weekend over washington state, spreading a message about vets to make a difference. he pilots the freedom flight five, a 95 foot hot-air balloon promoting p.o.w. and m.i.a. awareness. he's been doing it for 20 years. >> as a vietnam vet it is close to my heart as far as having the ability to go out and promote the issue and let people know how many people are still missing.

we are trying to make sure that the families are aware of the fact that we won't forget and we are plotting the issue with the biggest thing we could find. >> gregg: this is the 23rd year of the great balloon rally. ever been in a hot-air balloon? >> heather: i have not. bet you have? >> gregg: no. kind of actphobic, everybody is, i think. -- i'll do it if you do it. we'll co-anchor a hot-air balloon. >> heather: desperate search for kids from tennessee, police issuing amber alert after a fire destroyed their home. you will talk with judge jeanine, right? >> gregg: right, he is -- she is 10 feet way. >> it is very difficult, we just had ashes, no bodies. we don't have anything. >> we are considering these children are missing.

>> gregg: we are following developments on an amber alert out of tennessee police still searching for a 9-year-old and 7-year-old brother and sister. they disappeared after their step grandparents' home burned to the ground where they lived at the time. judge jeanine pirro, this happens on a sunday night presumed everybody is an asleep. they sift through the burned ashes and the step grandparents' bodies are there, but not the children. >> authorities first believed that the children were in the home. they were seen by people outside of the home at 6:30, the fire was about 9:30. the home was far from the road. when they were sifting through the ashes they phone the step grandparents, a 70 and

72-year-old adults. they thought they found one body. turns out it was a dog there is no evidence to indicate these two children were in the home. so, they would expect to find some evidence that indicates why the cadaver-sniffing dogs or forensic anthropologists have gone through. >> gregg: in most of these cases where they are missing children, we have to presume they are missing now, because they are not inside the home where ashes are. abductions generally are somebody close to the kids, maybe a family member. have they checked with all the family members? >> they checked with the mother. she does not have the children according to the tennessee bureau of investigation. now, there is a father of the boy, we are not sure hot father of the girl is. >> gregg: wasn't he investigated? >> mom and dad were both investigated for child abuse for six years -- four years, 2006 to 2010.

grandparents have custody. now the question is, if it is family members who normally have these children they searched the wooded area around the house trying to find out whether the children may have escaped and whether or not some relative who is more likely than not if the children were not found in the fire, they have them what is interesting, i had an arson squad when i was a d.a., they are now saying that they do not suspect arson here. that they had 20 propane tanks in the house. which is absurd and negligence in itself almost. >> gregg: you should never have a propane tank in the house. >> they say they may never know, so if you don't know how can you say for sure it is not arson? >> gregg: 20 propane tanks, why? that would level a couple city blocks. >> everything was total ashes. that's why it took so long for them to issue the amber alert. what might they find, bones,

teeth, something. >> gregg: now they really need the help of the publish, thus the amber alert. >> right they need more information from the public, they want to know when anyone has seen any family member whether or not they may have been with the children. >> gregg: given the propane tanks, they may never find out if this was arson or not but the search is on for the kids. >> there's no question that this will be resolved hopefully, sooner than later hopefully these children are not in danger >> gregg: i hope you are right, there are a lot of missing kids who are never found sad tragedy in america. judge, thanks more on this, the tennessee bureau of investigation by the way, looking for your help. as judge jeanine mentioned. if you have any information and we've been showing the pictures, there they are, please call 1-800-tbi-find.

you can catch just continues with judge jeanine at 9 p.m. eastern time right here ton the fox news channel. thanks judge. >> heather: coming up, new polling numbers in the race for the white house. how are the candidates doing? who is in the lead days before the first presidential debate? we'll break down the numbers, next.

>> gregg: new poll numbers, fairly tight race for the white house. first the real clear politics average of polls president obama with a 48% to go 's 44%. >> heather: the rasmussen daily tracking poll shows a closer contest, president obama at 48%, gop nobody roll knew 47 pufrt -- gop none roll knew 46%. author of the people's money joins us to talk more about this. a tight race to say the least. >> it is very tight in the last week or so it shifted a little in the president's direction, probably because consumer confidence has been building and the economy is still key. also worth noting three most

important swing states, virginia, ohio and florida the president leads by small numbers, within the margin of error. >> gregg: scott on the upcoming debate on economic issues, free trade is inevitably going to come up. does it create jobs or take away jobs. what did you find? >> the numbers on anything dealing with free trade are mixed, murky, conflicting whatever you want to say, dead even 37% on each side. investors tend to say that it -- free trade creates more jobs noninvestors say it costs americans jobs. >> heather: in order to protect american workers should the u.s. place tariffs on countries whose workers' wages are so low as to be uncompetitive? >> most americans say yes that. applies to republicans, democrats and unaffiliated voters. again you get this mixed sense.

people say in general free trade sounds good, they like the idea of competition. there's a belief out there that some other countries are cheating, playing by different rules. and they want our country our companies to have a fair chance to compete. >> gregg: who gets the blame for the lagging economy? >> our own policies. americans are concerned about what is happening in europe. they say that china is an economic threat. when they look around the globe now they see more economic threats than military threat . 6 out of 10 say the cause of our economic problems, policieses here at home. >> heather: we have a new poll out this week a fox news poll, that says 93% of obama supporters and 95% of romney supporters, aren't going to change their minds between now and election day. you have written an essay that looks at debates over the years whether in fact they are a game changer, what did you

find out? >> last time there was a game-changing debate was 1980, 32 years ago. four years ago, when john mcgain and barack obama had their first debate, obama was up 50-45 before the debate when it was said and done he was up 51-45. four years earlier when kerry and bush went at it, kerry won the first debate, no impact on the horse race numbers the only thing that changed this gives a good perspective, after kerry won the debate, kerry supporters said debates are really important. bush supporters said, not so much. >> gregg: i want to go back to what you pointed out. i remember it well the carter-reagan debate in 1980. democrats and carter had tried to portray ronald reagan as this crazy actor with dangerous views going to create armageddon in the cold war with the soviets. suddenly, america tens of

millions of americans tuned into the debates and they said wait a minute, this guy is likeable, making a lot of sense -- >> charming, right. >> gregg: let's compare that to today. the president has been trying to, with attack ads demonize mitt romney as this sort of horrible businessman. might this debate be comeable? -- compareable? >> the debate in '80 was one week before the election the only debate of that year. it is true, incumbent presidents often have a bad first debate. it could be mitt romney comes across as likeable. there's a lot of things that could go right for governor romney. there will be two more debates, not election eve. having said this the fact that i don't think the debates will change a lot, the race is close. if there's a small change, even a couple points because

of the debates that could be decisive. >> heather: there is the matter of real world matters as well in terms what is going on in the real world, surrounding these debates and the times they happen, right? >> exactly right. four years ago the reason nothing changed from this point on to the rest of the election, the debates didn't matter because we already had the wall street meltdown and candidates had reacted, real world events solidified 's solid lead. we haven't had an event like that but there's things percolating in the mideast that could shake-up the race, a couple more employment reports. if employment numbers and other economic indicators muddle along, then they won't change things that much. if there is a big shift in perceptions of the economy, that will have a bigger impact than the debates. >> gregg: i have to is you, fox news poll just came out, 73% of the likely votes said we want the policies to

change. how is it possible, an incumbent leads when voters are yearning for change? >> well, the voters voted against the party in power in 2006, 2008, 2010 they don't like the direction things are going many some people when they are saying they want change, they don't want the republican congress placing limits on president obama. others are saying, let's throw 'em all out and start all over again. >> gregg: scott rasmussen, great to see you, thanks for being . >> thank you. >> heather: that does it for us, rick and arthel take over at top of the hour. >> gregg: we'll see you back here 4 p.m. eastern time tomorrow. have a great saturday night have a great saturday night and wonderful weekend. captioned by closed captioning services, inc. hey, bro. or engaging. conversations help us learn and grow.

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>> rick: welcome to a new hour inside america's election headquarters. >> arthel: topping the news brewing battle in washington the white house under fire overmixed messages into the investigation over the libya consulate attack. >> rick: new may be casting a shadow over president obama's reelection bid. young voters lessen enthusiastic now. our panel will weigh in. >>rt